OTEC: electricity from the ocean

Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978 · Technol. Rev.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6606432

Whitmore, W F

OTEC is an attractive candidate as a contributor to U.S. energy self-sufficiency. It is a renewable source of base-load electricity, though limited in its geographical availability to the Gulf Coast and to island territories (Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Pacific dependencies). The grazing concept for producing energy intensive products has a much wider area of siting--there are some 20 million square miles of suitable tropical waters near the equator. Furthermore, for tropical third-world countries, OTEC offers a valuable resource, if capital funding can be made available by the more developed countries. OTEC is environmentally benign and does not consume fossil fuels which are needed for other purposes (such as petrochemicals). No technological problems have been uncovered which will kill the OTEC concept; the engineering challenges appear to be those of scale rather than of technological difficulty. The materials are available; the construction methods are known. A leading design for an OTEC plant is a vertical, semi-submerged spar-shaped structure--comparable in size to off-shore oil plants. Its configuration makes it insensitive to wind and wave turbulence. Held in place by a single mooring line and weight anchor in tropical oceans, its electrical power would be taken to shore by cable. Two crews of about 30 persons each would be required to operate an OTEC plant. Power from the first commercial OTEC plant is expected by 1986.

• Research Organization: Lockheed Missiles and Space Co., Inc., Palo Alto, CA
• OSTI ID: 6606432
• Journal Information: Technol. Rev.; (United States), Journal Name: Technol. Rev.; (United States) Vol. 81:1; ISSN TEREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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